On her way home, Nina felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and glanced at the screen.
Frank.
Her chest tightened. For a few seconds, she just stared at the name that had once filled her with warmth and now stirred only disgust.
She declined the call and returned her attention to the road. She turned at the traffic light, and the phone went off again. This time, it was Leonard.
Nina answered without hesitation.
“Did you find something?”
“I sent you Lynn’s new address.”
Nina froze.
“That quickly?”
“And her photo,” he added.“If you need more information, I can send you details about her adoptive parents, her school, anything you want.”
Nina closed her eyes.
For so many years she’d told herself it was enough just to know Lynn was okay. But now that this information was in her hands, fear swept over her.
She drew a deep breath, but her heart still raced too fast.
“No,” she said, and her voice betrayed her with a tremor.“This is enough.”
She realized she didn’t want to dig that deeply into Lynn’s life. She planned to help from a distance, if Lynn ever ran into financial trouble. Even if the divorce took most of Nina’s assets, she would still find a way to take care of her.
Leonard was silent for a couple of seconds, then said evenly,
“Got it. If you change your mind, call me.”
The call ended.
For a few more seconds, Nina just held the phone in her hands. A notification glowed on the screen.
A photo.
Lynn.
Her daughter.
Her breath caught as if she’d been struck. For years she’d convinced herself she didn’t need to know what Lynn looked like, that it was enough just to know she was alive. Now she wasn’t sure that was true anymore.
At this point, she had no real reason not to see her. To help her. To support her.
If she’d done this earlier, Frank would’ve destroyed her. If anyone had found out about her past, about the child she had given up, the company’s stock would’ve crashed, and the family would’ve been publicly disgraced. This would’ve destroyed their reputation. They hadn’t been insignificant for a long time. Her father had built his pharmaceutical company from the ground up, and every step they took could affect their position. If this had come out back then, the board could’ve forced Frank out as CEO.
But now…
Now she could finally afford to do what she wanted, without looking back at anyone else’s expectations.
Nina pulled over to the shoulder, turned on her hazard lights, and looked at the screen.
In the photo was a young woman who looked about eighteen. Nina knew for a fact she was almost twenty-one. Slender, tall, with long fair hair that caught the sunlight like gold. She had the same oval face as Nina, the same high cheekbones, the same soft line of the chin.
She looked like Nina’s younger sister. Or like her daughter...
